Pesticide duster attachment for portable blower

ABSTRACT

A duster attachment includes a closed bottom, upwardly opening cylindrical container. An upright vacuum tube has its lower end secured through the bottom of the container and includes an upper end provided with variable air inlet structure. A closed top and downwardly opening pilot tube is loosely telescoped downwardly over the vacuum tube and includes an annular plate secured about the pilot tube lower end. Dusting powder is disposed within the container below the annular plate and the lower end of the vacuum tube is communicated with the air inlet of a leaf blower.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an attachment for a portable blower of thetype which is either gasoline powered or electric motor powered andconventionally used as a leaf blower. The attachment incorporates ahopper for containing dusting powder or granules and defines an air flowpassage extending therethrough with the hopper comprising anintermediate length portion of the air flow passage and the outlet endof the air flow passage adapted for partial communication with the airintake of the associated blower.

2. Description of Related Art

Various different forms of powder or pesticide dispensers heretoforehave been provided by which dusting powders or granules may be dispensedin an air flow. Examples of these previously known devices are disclosesin U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,854,634, 4,256,241, 4,519,548 and 5,226,567 as wellas DES.273,266.

Of these prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,634 is thought to be closest inconstruction and operation to the duster attachment of the instantinvention in that it includes a dusting powder hopper and air flowpassage which are operatively associated with each other in a similar,but reverse manner.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The duster attachment of the instant invention is specifically designedto be used in conjunction with the air inlet of a conventional gasolinepowered or electric leaf blower. The duster attachment includes an airand dust outlet for registry with the central area, only, of the airintake of a leaf blower and in this manner the associated leaf blowerprovides the necessary vacuum to draw air through the duster attachment.Also, inasmuch as the duster attachment is disposed upstream from theair intake of the leaf blower, all dusting powder or granules dischargedfrom the duster attachment pass through the blower assembly of the leafblower and any clumps of dusting powder or granules tend to be broken upby the impeller wheel of the blower.

Further, inasmuch as air passing through the dusting attachment is undera partial vacuum, as opposed to pressure elevated relative to ambientair pressure, there is substantially no chance of insecticide dustingpowder or the like escaping from the duster attachment other than fromthe air and dusting powder outlet thereof and since such air and dustingpowder outlet is communicated with the air intake of the associatedblower, accidental escape or leakage of perhaps somewhat toxicinsecticide powder in the area adjacent the operator of the associatedblower is substantially eliminated.

The main object of this invention is to provide an insecticide or otherpowder duster for use in conjunction with a conventional leaf blower.

Another object of this invention is to provide an insecticide dustingattachment which may be used in conjunction with substantially any formof blower assembly.

Another very important object of this invention is to provide a dusterattachment for a portable leaf blower and which may be used not only fordusting with insecticide powder but also for dusting with other powdersor granular materials.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein isto provide a dusting attachment in accordance with the preceding objectsand which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be ofsimple construction and easy to use so as to provide a device that willbe economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free inoperation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a typical form of portableleaf blower with the pesticide duster attachment of the instantinvention operatively associated with and supported from the centralarea of the air intake portion of the leaf blower;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse vertical sectional view ofthe duster attachment and the adjacent air intake portions of theassociated blower; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged transverse vertical sectional view ofthe lower portion of the insecticide duster attachment and illustratingthe mounting thereof from a modified form of leaf blower.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now more specifically to the drawings the numeral 10 generallydesignates a conventional form of gasoline engine powered leaf blowincluding an air intake shroud 12 and a discharge nozzle 14, the blower10 being operable to intake air through the air intake shroud 12 and todischarge air under pressure through the discharge nozzle 14.

The reference numeral 16 generally designates the duster attachment ofthe instant invention. The attachment 16 includes an upwardly openingcontainer 18 including cylindrical side walls 20 and an annular bottomwall 22. An upstanding vacuum tube 24 is provided and includes a loweroutwardly opening outlet end 26 and an upper inlet end 28 variablyclosed by a rotatably adjustable closure cap 30. The lower outlet end 26is secured through a central opening 32 formed in the bottom wall 22 andalso through a central opening 34 formed in an annular end wall 36closing the upper inlet end 40 of an elbow fitting 42 including ahorizontal outlet end 44.

An upstanding pilot tube 46 is telescoped downwardly over the upperinlet end 28 of the vacuum tube 24 and has its lower end 48 securedthrough a central opening 50 formed in an annular transverse plate 52loosely slidably received within the container 18. The closure cap 30comprises a diametric enlargement on the upper end of the vacuum tube 24and the pilot tube 46 is loosely received over the closure cap 30 in amanner such that an annular flow passage 54 is defined between thevacuum tube 24 and the pilot tube 46 below the closure cap 30.

The interior of the container 18 disposed below the transverse plate 52defines a hopper for containing dusting powder 56 or the like and theupper end 58 of the pilot tube 46 is closed by a closure cap 52.

The upper end of the vacuum tube 24 includes four equallycircumferentially spaced radial openings 54 formed therein and theclosure cap 30 includes a cylindrical skirt 56 having downwardly openingnotches 58 formed therein variably registrable with the openings 54. Thecylindrical skirt 56 is snugly but rotatably received over the upper endof the vacuum tube 24 and thus may be angularly adjusted relative to thelatter, but is held in adjusted angular position by friction.

The air intake shroud 12 has a tubular mounting nipple 60 mountedthereon through the utilization of circumferentially spaced mountinglugs 61 and a fastener 62 and the outlet end 44 of the elbow fitting 42is loosely telescoped within the mounting nipple 60 and supportedtherefrom in coaxial relation therewith through the utilization of threecircumferentially spaced mounting fixtures 64. Thus, the entire dustingattachments 16 is supported from the air intake shroud 12 of the blower10 through the utilization of the mounting lugs 61 and the fastener 62.

From a review of FIG. 2 it may be appreciated that the cross sectionalarea of the outlet end 44 is only approximately 1/4 cross sectional areaof the mounting nipple 60. Accordingly, the outlet end 44 iscommunicated, only partially, with the air intake for the blower 10comprising the mounting nipple 60 and the inflow of air into the nipple60 about the outlet end 44 creates a partial vacuum within the outletend 44 and thus the vacuum tube 24, the pilot tube 46 and beneath thetransverse plate 52.

This vacuum causes air to be drawn downwardly through the container 18past the outer peripheral edges of the transverse plate 52 and theninwardly beneath the transverse plate 52 into the flow passage 54. Theradial inward flow of air immediately beneath the transverse plate 52causes some of the dusting powder 56 at the surface thereof to beentrained within the air flow moving into the lower end of the pilottube 46. The flow of air having dusting powder 56 entrained therein thenpasses upwardly through the downwardly opening notches 58 and the radialopenings 54 into the interior of the vacuum tube 24. Thereafter, the airflow, having dusting powder 56 entrained therein moves downwardly fromthe bottom of the vacuum tube 24 and into the elbow fitting 42 for exittherefrom from the outlet end 44 thereof. The air, having dusting powderentrained therein, mixes with the intake air passing into the mountingnipple 60 outwardly of the elbow fitting 42 and passes through the leafblower 10 for discharge therefrom under pressure from the dischargenozzle 14.

The amount of dusting powder passed into the blower assembly 10 may becontrolled two different ways. Firstly, the amount of suction in theoutlet end 44 of the elbow fitting 42 may be greatly varied merely byvarying the speed of operation of the motor or engine powering theblower assembly 10. Obviously, a low idle speed of operation may notcause sufficient vacuum in the outlet end 44 of the elbow fitting 42 todraw any appreciable amount of dusting powder 56 from the container 18.On the other hand, high speed operation of the motor or engine poweringthe blower 10 will be operative to create sufficient pressure in theoutlet end 44 in order to insure that dusting powder is withdrawn fromthe container 18 and discharged from the outlet end 44. Secondly, theclosure cap 30 may be angularly adjusted so as to vary the registrationof the notches 58 with the radial openings 54. In this manner, the flowof air through the flow passage 54 may be controlled.

It is also possible that variable air inlet means could be provided forthe upper end 50 of the pilot tube 46. This also would vary the amountof dusting powder 56 entrained in the air being discharged from thenozzle 14.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,634 discloses structure similar to the pilot tube 46and transverse plate of the instant invention. However, such previouslypatented structured is subject to air pressure above ambient airpressure and, accordingly, if toxic dusting powder is being dispensedthere is a possibility for leakage of such toxic dusting powder in thearea of the operator. Further, by subjecting the interior of thecontainer 18 below the transverse plate 52 to a partial vacuum, thepilot tube and transverse plate 52 are held in proper operatingposition, even when the container 18 is horizontally disposed.Subjecting similar structure to air under pressure as opposed to avacuum would result in the transverse plate 52 having a tendency to bedischarged outwardly of the open end of the container 18. Still further,inasmuch as the interior of the instant invention is subject to vacuumas opposed to pressure above atmospheric pressure, there is no need toprovide the upper end of the container 18 with any form of closure.

With attention now invited more specifically to FIG. 3, a modified formof attachment 16' is illustrated. The attachment 16' differs from thedusting attachment 16 in that the outlet end 44' of the elbow fitting42' thereof comprises a bell end tightly telescoped over the outer endof a mounting nipple 60' removably mounted from the air intake shroud12' of a modified form of leaf blower 10' including a central air inletopening 11 as well as outer peripheral air inlet openings 13, the outletend 44' of the elbow fitting 42' thus being fully registered with thecentral air inlet opening 11. Otherwise, all of the components of thedusting attachment 16' are identical to the corresponding components ofthe dusting attachment 16 and are designated by corresponding primereference numerals.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles ofthe invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes readilywill occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit theinvention to the exact construction and operation shown and described,and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may beresorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A duster for a source of vacuum, said dusterincluding an upwardly opening container having a bottom wall providedwith a central opening formed therein, an upstanding vacuum tubeincluding a lower outwardly opening outlet end secured to said bottomwall about said opening and an upper inlet end spaced at leastappreciably above said bottom wall, an upstanding pilot tube havingupper and lower ends, transverse plate means disposed in and looselyslidable within said container toward and away from said bottom wall andhaving a central opening formed therethrough about which the lower endof said pilot tube is secured to said plate means with said pilot tubeloosely telescoped downwardly over said vacuum tube and the upper end ofsaid pilot tube projecting above the upper end of said vacuum tube, theupper end of said pilot tube being at least substantially closed and theupper end of said vacuum tube including air flow controlling meansoperatively associated therewith for controlling the amount of airadmitted into the upper end of said vacuum tube, a variable volume areaof the interior of said container disposed between said plate means andsaid bottom wall being adapted to receive fine, granular dustingmaterial therein, said outlet end of said vacuum tube being adapted tobe communicated, with at least a portion of the air intake of a blowerassembly including a pressurized air outlet through which air havingpredetermined amounts of dusting material entrained therein may bedischarged from said air outlet.
 2. The duster of claim 1 wherein saidair flow controlling means includes air inlet openings formed in andspaced about the upper end of said vacuum tube and a downwardly openingcap telescoped downwardly over said upper end of said vacuum tube andangularly displaceable relative thereto, said cap including peripheralskirt means having downwardly opening notches formed therein variablyregisterable with said air inlet openings.
 3. The duster of claim 2wherein said peripheral skirt means defines a diametric enlargement ofsaid vacuum tube and said pilot tube is loosely slidably received oversaid enlargement.
 4. The duster of claim 1 wherein the upper end of saidpilot tube is fully closed above the upper end of said vacuum tube. 5.The duster of claim 4 wherein said air flow controlling means includesair inlet openings formed in and spaced about the upper end of saidvacuum tube and a downwardly opening cap telescoped downwardly over saidupper end of said vacuum tube and angularly displaceable relativethereto, said cap including peripheral skirt means having downwardlyopening notches formed therein variably registerable with said air inletopenings.
 6. The duster of claim 5 wherein said peripheral skirt meansdefines a diametric enlargement of said vacuum tube and said pilot tubeis loosely slidably received over said enlargement.
 7. The duster ofclaim 1 wherein the interior of said container is substantiallycylindrical and said transverse plate means is annular in configuration.8. A duster including an upwardly opening container having a bottom wallprovided with a central opening formed therein, an upstanding vacuumtube including a lower outlet end secured to said bottom wall about saidopening and an upper inlet end spaced at least appreciably above saidbottom wall, transverse plate means disposed in and loosely slidablewithin said container toward and away from said bottom wall and having acentral opening formed therein through which said vacuum tube is looselyslidingly received, a variable volume area of the interior of saidcontainer disposed between said transverse plate means and said bottomwall being adapted to receive fine, granular dusting material therein,and communicating means defining a closed passage communicating saidcentral opening in said plate means with the interior of said upperinlet end of said vacuum tube, said lower end of said vacuum tube beingadapted to be communicated with the air intake of a blower assemblyincluding a pressurized air outlet through which air havingpredetermined amounts of dusting material entrained therein may bedischarged from said air outlet.
 9. The duster of claim 8 wherein saidcommunicating means includes air flow controlling means for controllingthe air flow between said central opening in said plate means and theinterior of said vacuum tube.
 10. The duster of claim 8 including amotor driven blower having an ambient air inlet and a pressurized airoutlet, said ambient air inlet being at least partially communicatedwith said outlet end of said vacuum tube.
 11. The duster of claim 10wherein said ambient air inlet is only partially communicated with saidoutlet end of said vacuum tube.